The current price for iWork '08 (with Pages 3.0) is close to 80 euro. The price for OpenOffice is 0 euro.
In OpenOffice but not Pages
- Open and save OpenDocument files
- Native "Save" of RTF and Word format (Pages "exports" to RTF and Word format, but subsequent changes have to be exported again through a number of dialogue steps.)
- HTML editing
- Document comparisons
- Multiple windows with the same document (However, there is no split window, as far as I can tell.)
- Multiple versions (Pages stores only one version of the document in each file)
- AutoSave
- Master documents
- Script recording (Called “macros” in OpenOffice. The language is OpenOffice Basic by default. Applescript is not supported.)
- Connector points for objects in diagrams.
- Drop caps
- Italics and bold in fonts with no built in typeface for it.
- Hidden text
- Paste Special - for pasting a chart as an image
- Bibliography databases
- Vertical Script and Japanese furigana
- Support for right-to-left scripts, like Arabic and Hebrew
- Built in formula editor
- Save and open Pages documents
- Save and open RTFD files
- Support for Mac OS X Services
- Image Masks
- Usable image controls. (OpenOffice actually has plenty of controls to edit images, but they are so stone age like, that they are virtually impossible to use.)
- Multi-language dictionary (OpenOffice has several language dictionaries, but for each part of the text, one has to decide which language it shall be checked against.)
- Ligatures and other advanced typographic features
Looking at the usefulness of the functions, it would seem like OpenOffice is much better. Most of the functionality that is unique to Pages is cosmetic or largely irrelevant to most people. Even if Pages is better at editing images, anyone who really cares about images will have to have an external dedicated image editor anyhow.
However, using the two programs there is a huge difference in perception. OpenOffice feels slower. There are a few milliseconds before the characters are displayed after each keystroke. It is more difficult to find options, and what is implemented is usually done in a strange way. There is for example a function called Conditional Text. To use it you have to start by following the menu path Insert > Fields > Other, and then click the Variables tab. As far as I can tell, none of those labels have anything to do with conditions or text.
In other words, OpenOffice is not a program to have fun with.
5 comments:
so what's your verdict?
I did an overview of Pages from a slightly different angle here:
http://i-work-in-pages.blogspot.com/2008/10/measuring-iwork-pages-against-what.html
That is a very good overview of Pages' advantages in your blog, Alexander.
I think it is very difficult to advise people on which word processor or office package they should use, as the needs are so different and our preferences often so personal. I'm in some way a fan of MS Office, in spite of its shortcomings, but so far I have not seen any need to install it on my new MacBook. In most cases, what Pages does not do, OpenOffice does, and what OpenOffice does not do Pages does. Not to forget TextEdit, which still is the word/text processor I use most on the Mac.
hear, hear!
I do most of my writinig in TextEdit (SimpleText) and then copy/paste and add frills as needed.
OpenOffice also has a Formula module to facilitate composing equations that can be added to your text.
Added the formula comment.
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